Plastic canteen lid question?

[WW2JAKE]

Should the plastic canteens have some sort of gasket in the lid? I've noticed all the plastic canteens I have with standard lids leak. The canteens with NBC caps do not I assume because of the rubber bit in the cap. I was going to swap out my caps on the canteens I planned on actually using but then noticed the rubber piece I mentioned before in the NBC caps don't fit in the canteens with standard caps. So im a bit curious

[The_Brick]

No, the standard caps didn't come with a gasket. But its odd that the rubber bit from the NBC caps don't fit in the canteens with the standard caps, as the US Mil did swap out canteen caps during the late 60s-70s to make "all" their canteens have the NBC cap.

[WW2JAKE]

No, the standard caps didn't come with a gasket. But its odd that the rubber bit from the NBC caps don't fit in the canteens with the standard caps, as the US Mil did swap out canteen caps during the late 60s-70s to make "all" their canteens have the NBC cap.

 

my standard cap canteens all have thicker walls than my NBC caps canteens. At least the ones from the 2000's do I haven't checked my Vietnam canteens.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

I have a USGI style plastic canteen, (not an actual USGI canteen, it's one of the 1976 R & D ones) and I've carried it through a swamp underwater, I'm talking dark brown water, cant see 3 inches through it, and the water in the canteen came out perfectly clear and drinkable, it has no rubber seal.

[WW2JAKE]

I have a USGI style plastic canteen, (not an actual USGI canteen, it's one of the 1976 R & D ones) and I've carried it through a swamp underwater, I'm talking dark brown water, cant see 3 inches through it, and the water in the canteen came out perfectly clear and drinkable, it has no rubber seal.

well 1976 things were better made than they are today lol idk mine are from 2002-2004 and they all leak. I was thinking about putting O-rings in the caps to seal them better. But it's actually quite bad leaks too. Especially the 2qt canteens... Since they aren't as rigid they get squeezed and it's a pretty steady flow of water.

 

Honestly I didn't even think about things getting into them!

[Linedoggie]

No, the standard caps didn't come with a gasket. But its odd that the rubber bit from the NBC caps don't fit in the canteens with the standard caps, as the US Mil did swap out canteen caps during the late 60s-70s to make "all" their canteens have the NBC cap.

The Swap out to all NBC caps was far from complete. I was issued Canteens without NBC caps in 81, 84, 93 ans as late as 04

[skautdog]

Don't know about lid/wall thickness, but I never had a problem with one quart canteens leaking in "regular" field use. Two quart canteens sometimes leaked as they were less rigid as were the covers and sometimes got squeezed. My time frame reference is Vietnam War (Grunt Platoon Leader) through early '90s. Still use 1 quarts for hunting, etc.

[Sgt. BARney]

I've used lots of these canteens dated from late 60's thru late 70's, and don't remember ever seeing any kind of gasket in the caps, and don't remember any trouble with leaks either. I did have a VN dated 5 qt. water bladder that I used a lot, and it had a flat rubber seal in the cap very similar to the cork seals in the caps of WW2/Korea metal canteens. Again, no trouble with leaks.

Maybe you could try something like that?

I still use my old plastic ones a lot for hiking, hunting, etc.

[pawtwo]

I always thought that all new canteens made after 1981 were fitted by manufacturer with NBC cap. Even NSN for 1QT water canteen changed that year to reflect the change.